


Rescue Dog

by Amaranthkick



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Lance is a bit more wolf than were but knows some things about humans, M/M, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Werewolf! Lance, with fantasy bits here and there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 04:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13356921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amaranthkick/pseuds/Amaranthkick
Summary: The day Shiro was saved by a blue eyed 'rescue dog' inspired him to save lives as well, as an emergency responder working with his own rescue dog partner. But an accident tore it all away in an instant. Struggling to heal, he finds great help in a strange individual who reminds him of his hero.





	Rescue Dog

**Author's Note:**

> haha, yes it is I with another unorthodox werewolf! Lance au.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings though, flooding and mudslides happen and slight alcohol. If i need to tag things please tell me.

When Shiro was in his late teens he was caught off guard by a sudden mudslide from the torrential downpour that took the town by surprise. He was buried under heavy mud and debris and all alone.  He kept shouting for help.

Lance, a werewolf, was searching for shelter in his wolf form. His fur was completely drenched in rain and mud. His territory destroyed by the mudslide. Luckily his family could sense the strong storm way before it hit and escaped. Lance volunteered to stay behind in case any other animals needed help and to help in the start of fixing up his territory after the damage has been done.

Lance was startled when he hears a faint cry for help. It’s a bit close to the human city but he treks through the mud anyway.

Shiro is shivering badly from the cold. There was no one answering back. He doesn’t know how long he’s been there and doesn’t want to give up but the cold is quickly sapping his strength. Tears slip out as he closes his eyes thinking this might be it for him.

Shiro doesn’t know what happened but the next thing he knew something pressing hard on his stomach to make him cough out some mud and then a wet tongue licking the mud off his face. He gasps as he opened his eyes to see his saviour: a very large dog with deep bright blue eyes. They stand out against the dreary grey the clouds covered the town in. Could– could it be a rescue dog?

The dog went under his arm seemingly trying to make him stand. Shiro bravely tries to get up only to fall but the dog catches and carries him on his back. The dog is carrying back to the city, to rescuers, Shiro realizes. He’s still cold and weak from his ordeal but clings onto his saviour with all his might. He whispers thank you’s through chattering teeth before he loses consciousness.

When Shiro wakes up, he’s in a hospital the dog nowhere in sight. He asks about it but no one knows about it.

—

Inspired by this experience, Shiro becomes an emergency responder and works with a rescue dog [he thinks is] just like the one that rescued him. When he was learning about rescue dogs he was surprised to learn that they don’t usually do what that one rescue dog did.

But one day there was an accident and Shiro lost his right arm and his rescue dog partner. Shiro was grief stricken and depressed from then on. Keith and Matt and Allura and all his friends try to get him back on his feet. Coran, Matt, Hunk and Pidge worked together to build him a high-tech prosthetic. But he pushes them away and distances himself saying he just wants some space. But they won’t give up on him.

They decide to give him his space but Pidge and Hunk recruits their friend Lance to look after him from a distance.

They met when Pidge and Hunk went camping once but got lost in the woods. Lance found them and led them back to civilization. He has a cabin in the woods for appearance sake as humans are ever expanding their territory. Best to look like he’s a human who lives in a decent place. His family visits from time to time.

They meant to introduce Shiro to Lance but Shiro not knowing could give Lance more cover.

Lance gets this nagging feeling like he’s seen Shiro before. His scent is familiar too. But he seems so sad now, it makes his heart ache. Pidge and Hunk said to look after him and keep out of sight so maybe cheering him up counts too?

But what cheers up a human? Lance also doesn’t know why Shiro is so down in the dumps.

—

Lance’s first guess is food. Lance loves it when Hunk makes him lunch.

He doesn’t really know how to cook though. But Pidge gave him some human money so something bought might do.

Shiro was sitting in a park bench shivering slightly in crisp air. His eyes closed trying to clear his head. After the accident it felt like a dark cloud settled over him that he just can’t shake off. He tries to act normal for his friends but forcing himself only makes him feel worse. He’s at a loss at what to do.

That’s when a sudden whoosh of wind startled him out of his thoughts. He looked around but no one was around. He had to do a double take at the other end of the bench. W–was that cupcake always there?

It had light blue icing with sprinkles on top.

No, of course not. He looked around one last time. But again there is no one. Like hell he’s going to eat this very suspicious cupcake so gets up and leaves.

Lance is a little miffed that Shiro ignored his cupcake. But it started to make sense as he takes a bite watching Shiro go. Maybe Shiro doesn’t like sweets.

Lance tries again with his favorite food: meat, a t-bone steak. Raw meat, like still in its grocery package raw. He manages to place it on top of Shiro’s bag without him noticing and retreats to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Shiro starting to get weirded out. First a strange cupcake and now meat? Are these gifts? If so, how come he doesn’t find any sign of the person so he can tell them to stop. He takes the packaged meat off of his bag and once again makes like a tree and leaves but glances once or twice back at it to try and catch the strange gifter.

When Shiro stops looking back, Lance whimpers at another dejected gift. ‘But oh well, his loss,’ he thinks as he rips open the package and gets his fill.

—

Shiro is mentally sweating, who is this mysterious gifter? First a strange assortment of foods then weird materials like a rock, pieces of wood and a small ceramic tile. Now it’s softer things like a feather this one time, a pillow the next.

Shiro is determined to catch person in the act. He’s only seen this done on tv shows but he has his phone to act as a mirror while looking like he is using his phone. He’s back at the park, one side of the bench empty hoping the guy will place the newest gift on the empty space.

His phone captures some movement quickly drawing his attention. He sees this stranger that seems like Hunk’s or Keith’s age, tongue sticking out in concentration as he carefully sets a small stuffed teddy bear on the bench. It’s kinda endearing. He has to hand it to the guy though, he’s good. Shiro can hardly hear a sound. Overall, the person doesn’t seem all that threatening.

When he is sure the guy left, he takes the stuffed toy in his hands and looks it over.

Then it hits him, are his friends putting this poor guy up to this? All for his sake. Shiro frowns at the thought. He doesn’t want them worrying about him or wasting their efforts on him. He’s going to confront them about it so they can get this person to not bother with him.

Shiro gently swipes his thumb over the soft fur of the bear. Maybe if he kept the bear the person will be satisfied for a bit.

—

Shiro confronts Pidge as she is talking with her brother and Hunk.

Matt is surprised as Pidge and Hunk admit to hiring Lance to look after him. Shiro glares at Matt when he mutters, “why didn’t I think of that?”

“You can tell him to stop, I–I’m fine, really guys. You can stop worrying about me. And stop getting Lance to deliver these gifts.” He holds the stuffed bear up for them to see.

“It was our idea. Don’t be upset with La– wait, gifts?” Pidge shares a confused look with Hunk. “Shiro, we only told him to look after you. You know, keep an eye on you from a distance. Any gifts you got were personally given by him.”

“Yeah, maybe he wanted to cheer you up in his own way.” Hunk said.

Huh, what about that. Shiro smiled warmly as he held the stuffed toy tenderly. It did feel nice to secretly receive presents from this guy even if some of them were weird. Someone who put in that time and effort just for him.

“Aww, does someone like getting gifts from a secret admirer?” Pidge teased.

“N–no!” Shiro denied even as he held the stuffed bear closer to his chest. He grumbled and left beet red as the others continued laughing and snickering.

—

It seemed keeping the teddy bear cemented what kind of gifts Lance would bring him as he continued to receive stuffed animals. It made sense for Lance to keep to this safe option as he did rebuff all his other attempts.

Although there was the occasional cupcake or food item that he did enjoy eating now that he knew it was a gift from Lance (Those were times when Lance was hungry and hoping Shiro would ignore the gift so he could eat it. But Lance was happy to see Shiro enjoy his gift anyway.)

A few days in a row Shiro didn’t receive a gift. Shiro was getting a little sad about it. Then he got embarrassed realizing that he had been looking forward to Lance’s gifts no matter what they were. But then he noticed a big (couch cushion sized) teddy bear next to him. He chuckled to himself as he held it in front of him. Was Lance saving up to buy this for him? Large teddy bears did cost more than smaller ones.

Lance doesn’t have to spend his money on him. They barely know each other. That’s it. He’s going to get Pidge to talk to Lance so they could properly be introduced.

—

One night he gets an awful nightmare of his accident. He needed a visit to a bar but he usually had someone to go with so he doesn’t overdo it. Or even just someone to keep him company. His friends however, must all still be asleep.

He doesn’t want to bother them but then he has an idea. A small hope. Pidge said Lance was looking after him. So maybe, just maybe…

Shiro is on his way to a bar when he calls out for Lance. He doesn’t call out too much it’s still the middle of the night. He looked around waiting for some kind of answer. Shiro sighs heavily, berating himself for putting all his hopes on some miniscule chance–

“Shiro?” He jumps at the small voice and rapidly looks back and forth.

There, hiding slightly behind a tree, hesitant because Pidge told Lance that Shiro knows but to still give him some space and Lance wants do a good job so he could get more money for more presents. It’s not like he has any other need for this human paper money. On Hunk’s suggestion, he does keep some tucked away in his cabin.

“Lance!” Shiro’s surprised by how relieved he sounds. He smiles when Lance happily waves at him.

“You don’t have to keep watching me from a distance, you know.” Shiro says as he walked up to Lance gently coaxing him out of hiding. “You can save your money too. I don’t need a gift everyday.”

“But I want to, you smile more often now.” He feels pleased when Shiro blushes. But honestly he does like to see Shiro happy.

Shiro gasps noticing Lance’s deep blue eyes. They remind him of… nevermind. He shakes his head, it couldn’t be. It was just a silly thought.

Shiro takes them to a local joint and finds he really enjoys his company. He was new, didn’t look at him with judgemental or pitiful stares. He felt less overwhelmed and ready to lessen the gap he made between himself and his friends.

But his old scars still hurt, the emotional wounds of the claws from his nightmare still fresh in his mind.

He feels like he owes Lance at least some explanation for dragging him around in the night so he takes a cup full of liquid courage to get ready.

In the end he confessed about the accident, feeling lost, feeling awful about how he was treating his friends even though they were just trying to help. It helped that Lance was listening intently, taking each word seriously and waiting patiently for Shiro get his thoughts in order. Shiro became braver, willing to confess something he hasn’t told anyone else for fear of being made fun of for thinking about it.

He admits that he was rescued a few years back by a rescue dog all by itself during a mudslide. It’s why he worked hard to work with one too. But losing his partner, he was scared of losing another innocent partner. But he also felt like he disappointed the one who rescued him. He became broken and useless now, he wasn’t worth saving back then.

Lance inhales sharply as he remembers: him! It’s him! Shiro’s the one he saved that day! And did his actions really impact him that much? But what’s this about disappointing him? Shiro could never do that, he had to make known. Without telling him he’s a werewolf or the rescue dog from back then, of course.

Lance takes Shiro’s hand in his. “Shiro, I don’t think you could ever disappoint him. You saved lives! Yes, you got hurt and are stumbling but now you’re healing. I think… that he would think that _you_ are the real hero.”

Shiro didn’t know he was crying until Lance wiped the tears off his face. He hasn’t met someone who didn’t brush off the mysterious rescue dog as some crazy idea born from hypothermia. And Lance’s tone… it felt so genuine like he believed in his words. It made him feel like he could believe them too.

Shiro passed out a few moments later (the lightweight). Lance dropped the jaws of several other customers when he carried Shiro on his back with ease. He headed towards Shiro's house to let him rest on his bed. Pidge told Lance of the spare key under the welcome mat in case of emergency so he knew how to get in.

On his way back to Shiro’s house, Shiro started mumbling and fidgeting. It all felt so familiar, like back then when he was on the back of that rescue dog. Oh how he wanted to meet it again, tell it thank you when he wasn’t half delirious  from the cold. He wondered if it would understand, what he’s been through lately. Shiro felt it nuzzle back at him a murmur in the air, he could almost believe it came from the his savior, “You’re going to be okay, things are going to be alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me for my lack of rescue dog knowledge and emergency responder knowledge for that matter.


End file.
